Cultural traditions and business communication style of the unined Kingdom of great Britain and nothern Ireland

Plan of the Lecture

1 The UK. Country background.

3. Values and attitudes characteristic of the British.

4. Business practice in the UK.

5. Business etiquette in the UK.

6. Protocol.

COUNTRY BACKGROUND

England is only one part of the entity known as “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Most of the United Kingdom’s international business is conducted through England. Britain refers to the island on which England, Wales, and Scotland are located. Although the English are in the habit of referring to all natives of Britain as ‘Brits’, this term is not appreciated by many Welsh, Irish, and Scots. Northern Ireland shares the island of Eire with the Republic of Ireland. It is both incorrect and insulting to call someone from Eire a "Brit."

History. Britain was first brought into contact with the world when it was invaded by Rome in the first century B.C. Rome ruled much of the region until the fifth century A.D. Various tribes from Europe and Scandinavia - the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes - invaded after the Romans departed. In 1066, the Normans invaded from France. The Normans transformed the region, making it a feudal kingdom.

Britain was frequently at war with continental powers over the next several centuries. Because it is an island, Britain had a tremendous defensive advantage. They realized they needed a strong navy to protect themselves, and this navy made the British Empire possible. Great Britain was the strongest of the European powers in the nineteenth century, with many territories abroad. The Industrial Revolution first arose on British soil. In 1926, the United Kingdom granted autonomy to New Zealand, Australia, and Canada; later in this century, it granted independence to India, Egypt, and its African colonies.

The First World War marked the end of the Victorian way of life. The Second World War ushered in the dismantling of the British Empire. After the war, many sectors of the British economy were nationalized. Britain did not fully recover from the destruction of World War II until the 1960s.

During the 1980s, Conservative Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher privatized many services, undoing some of the postwar nationalization policies. In 1997, Tony Blair was elected prime minister, and the Labour Party assumed power in government once again. He was re-elected in 2001, and strongly supported the U.S. campaign against terrorism. Great Britain's devolution of powers has continued over the last decade. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh opened in 1999, as did the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff.

Type of Government. England has unwritten constitution which consists partly of statutes and partly of common law and practice. The monarch is the chief of state, while the prime minister is the head of government. In practice, it is the Cabinet (selected from Parliament by the prime minister) that has power, rather than the monarch. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons. The Parliament consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with the Commons having more real power. The Commons is elected by universal suffrage every five years, although the prime minister may ask the monarch to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections at any time. Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, the English judiciary cannot review the constitutionality of legislation. For current government data, check at http://www.parliament.uk.

Language and education. English is spoken in 104 countries besides the United Kingdom. Some of these are: Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, the British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada. While there is a "Standard Oxbridge" or "BBC English accent" that most foreigners recognize, there are a multitude of dialects as well: Cockney, West Country, East Anglia and others. In the United Kingdom overall, Welsh is spoken by about 26 percent of the population of Wales, and a Scottish form of Gaelic is used by approximately 60,000 people in Scotland.

Britain boasts some of the finest educational institutions in the world. A large portion of tax revenue is spent on the educational system. Schooling is free and compulsory from age five to age sixteen. Literacy is 99 percent, and school attendance is almost 100 percent. There are over forty universities in the United Kingdom, and many professional schools.

Religion. England has an official religion - the Anglican Church, or Church of England. Most English belong to this church, which was founded when King Henry VIII decided to split from the Roman Catholic Church during his reign. The Church no longer has political power. Other religions represented in England are Roman Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. Scotland also has an official religion, the Church of Scotland. However, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have official religions.

VALUES AND ATTITUDES.

National characteristics. The British are stereotyped as stuffy, prim and proper. Business is done through the ‘old boy’s network’. British culture is characterized as low-context, low risk-avoidance and monochronic. It is a mixture of relation-driven and task-driven cultures. Just like any other culture, Britain is full of paradoxes. On the one hand, the British continue to believe in the values of tradition, caution, restraint and fair play. They support the underdog, tolerate eccentricity (often by ignoring it) and think that taking part is more important than winning. Modesty and politeness are also important to them. This, combined with their zeal for personal privacy, can produce bizarre effects such as a reluctance to say what they actually do in their working life. If asked at a party what his job is, a Briton might say, ‘I’m in advertising,’ when in fact he’s the high-performing CEO of a major advertising agency. The British are also famous for their legendary ironic and self-deprecating humour. The British sense of humour is very varied but it depends ultimately on irony and sarcasm, which can make it hard for foreigners to enjoy, even if they have the language levels to understand it. Worse still, the British use jokes in business meetings to lighten the atmosphere, get through difficult moments and to prick pomposity and self-importance. In communities where meetings are taken fairly seriously, the British sense of humour may be seen as inappropriate and suggest a lack of commitment or interest. Old hands in international business will say, “ leave the jokes for the bar and replace them with charm until you really know those you are dealing with”.

What has changed in Britain in recent decades is that the country has become much more informal in its social and business customs, and has shed much of its former respect for institutions, title and age. In this it follows the American model. People use first names very quickly, even to bosses, and the words ‘Sir’ and ‘Madam’ are now mainly used only by sales assistants in shops. Britons do, however, maintain a generally high level of respect for the law and for procedures, which largely explains the absence of corruption in British business and politics. This combination of tradition and rapid change can make life confusing for the foreigner in Britain. The secret is to watch and listen carefully, and to learn to read between the lines to try and establish what the British are really saying. In this respect Britain is closer to some Eastern cultures than Western ones. It can take years to fully decipher British codes, but this is also true of any culture where much of what is truly meant remains unspoken.

The stoic English "stiff upper lip", which means “to maintain one's courage or composure during a time of trouble without giving way to or revealing one's emotions”, has changed in the last few decades. In some circles, the concept of personal responsibility for one's actions has transformed into a fondness for blaming someone else for life's problems, and seeking damages. The tabloids are calling it a "compensation culture" and lawsuits for everything from personal injury to small negligence claims are becoming more common.

The British are often uneasy and nervous when dealing with other people, even amongst themselves. Perhaps this explains their reliance on their notoriously unpredictable weather as a subject of small talk. It’s a shield to save having to talk about one’s personal life or feelings. Americans get exasperated by the British fear of not saying clearly what they feel and what they want, and this impassive, undemonstrative approach also confuses many other cultures.

Cultural orientation. The English are somewhat closed to outside information on many issues. They will participate in debate but are not easily moved from their perspective. They are quite analytical and process information in an abstractive manner. They will appeal to laws or rules rather than looking at problems in a subjective manner. There is a conceptual sense of fairness— unwritten, as is the constitution—but no less vital. Company policy is followed regardless of who is doing the negotiating.

Locus of decision-making. The English are highly individualistic, taking responsibility for their decisions, but always within the framework of the family, group, or organization. Individual initiative and achievement are emphasized, resulting in strong individual leadership. They do not find it difficult to say "no"; however, the English "no" is often communicated in a polite and somewhat subtle manner. The individual has a right to his or her private life, and this should not be discussed in business nego­tiations. Friendships are few and specific to their needs.

Sources of anxiety reduction. There are established rules for everything, and this gives a sense of stability to life. Well-established external structures (law, government, organizations) help to insulate them from life. The English are very time oriented, and they are anxious about deadlines and results. However, many do not display their anxiety; traditionally emotions are not shown in public.

Issues of equality/inequality. There is an inherent trust in the roles people play within the social or business system, and a strong feeling of the interdependency of these roles. There are necessarily inequalities in these roles, but the people are supposed to be guaranteed equality under the law. There is some bias against ethnic groups. Women have a great deal of equality in both pay and power.

BUSINES PRACTICE.

A member of the EU since 1973, the UK is a monarchy that never seems quite sure whether its key alliance lies with Europe, the USA or the Commonwealth. It has always resisted joining the Eurozone, maintains sterling as its currency and opts out of much of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. It claims a ‘special relationship’ with the USA that extends back to the two countries’ common roots (the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth, on Britain’s south-west coast, to America in 1611), and remains a leading member of the Commonwealth, a loose association of countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. The United Kingdom does not consider itself part of Europe—although it appreciates the economics of the European Union. And it still debates whether or not to adopt the euro.

Britain has copied many social and business mannerisms from the USA. People use first names almost immediately: many bosses actively encourage their staff to call them by their first name. This informality even extends to those you are dealing with purely by phone or email: the person you have just contacted responds using your first name even though they may know nothing about you. British style is to be courteous and friendly but detached. The British are practical, empirical people, and distrust too much theory, idealism. So pack your presentations full of attainable objectives, concrete detail and provable statistics. Time your presentation to last around 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the gravity of your proposal, and allow opportunity for debate and questions. People will concentrate more on the content of what you say than on how you say it or your body language. Remember that even if your audience is wildly excited about your project, their response may be muted: it’s the fear of being seen to be too enthusiastic. If your audience is highly divided, the discussion is unlikely to be heated: a sense of calm and proportion usually prevails in British business.

The British are famous worldwide for their punctuality, so ensure that you’re there on time. Some British managers can get agitated if someone is as little as two or three minutes late. Office hours tend to start at 8.30 a.m. or 9a.m., although many professions in London, such as the media, tend to arrive at 10am and leave correspondingly later in the evening. As in the USA, eating lunch at your workstation while surfing the web is becoming commonplace.

There is no designated national holiday in England; however, there are several weeks of official holidays in the United Kingdom—(including several bank holidays). They are two Bank Holidays in May and a week between Christmas and New Year.

Appointments. A formal business meeting in Britain will generally run to an agenda. If the discussion wanders too far from it, the chairperson may feel uncomfortable and try to drag everyone back on line. If important new matters arise in these digressions, the chair will often suggest that they are put on the agenda at the next meeting, or, if urgent, addressed rapidly by a sub-group of people outside the meeting. Meetings generally end on time. Following the American example, British meetings can be highly egalitarian affairs. Managers are often happy to sit beside staff and not at the top of the table, and will try to draw everyone into the discussion. The ideal is to achieve consensus so that everyone feels that they ‘own’ the decision. The British like to arrive at decisions and action points in their meetings, which managers are then expected to follow up. The focus is on action rather than going through an exhaustive discussion of options.

Negotiating. Objective facts are the only valid source of truth for the British. Little credence is given to the feelings one has about an issue. They are the masters of understatement.

The best way to make contact with senior executives is through a third party. It is not appropriate to have this same third party intervene later if problems arise.

Sometimes a secretary will introduce you to the executive; otherwise, introduce yourself. Businesspeople are normally more interested in short-term results than in the long-term future. Change is not necessarily a good thing to the British. The British do not often reveal excitement or other emotions; try to keep yours restrained as well. They also traditionally underplay dangerous situations. Allow the British executive to suggest that the meeting has finished, then do not prolong your exit.

While U.S. executives are known for being direct, the British are even more so. Don't be offended if there's no hedging about whether your suggestion is good or not. It is wise to send your senior executives to the United Kingdom, as they may be received with more respect and are usually more restrained in conduct.

In general, try to avoid interrogating your British contacts. They feel that excessive questions are intrusive. Avoid controversial topics such as politics or religion. Speak in complete sentences. While the British are often self-critical, visitors should avoid joining in any criticisms— simply listen. Similarly, if they share their complaints with you, do not participate.

The British apologize often, for even small inconveniences. They also have a habit of adding a question to the end of a sentence; for example: " It's a lovely day, don't you think?" In debates the British tend to avoid absolute statements, and use words such as ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybe’ to imply that alternative points of view might be valid. In negotiations they are often willing to compromise to achieve a win-win situation in which both parties can feel that the agreement offers a reasonable deal and prospects of further cooperation. Operating in management teams is a basic principle of British business. This includes sharing information, regular briefings and teams taking credit for success.

 

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE

Business Entertaining. ‘Going for a pint’ after work is common in Britain. It’s a good place to make friends and get to know the Brits, and you don’t have to drink alcohol. Despite their reputation for reserve, the British are quite quick to invite visitors to their homes for dinner or for lunch at the weekend.

Business breakfasts in hotels are becoming more common and are changing to a more Continental style - from the very large traditional breakfasts of eggs, bacon, sausage, kippers, etc. Lunch is generally between noon and 2:00 p.m. A business lunch will often be conducted in a pub and will be a light meal.

Legislation to ban smoking in English pubs and private clubs was passed in 2006! A similar vote passed in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. That the traditional thick layer of smoke in pubs is now just one more English tradition left by the wayside.

With senior executives, lunch will be eaten in the best restaurants or in the executive dining room. When you go out after working hours, do not bring up the subject of work unless your British associates do—otherwise, you will be considered a bore.

Animals are usually a good topic of conversation. Do not make jokes about the royal family. It is not good form to discuss one's genealogy.

PROTOCOL

Greetings. A handshake is standard for business occasions and when visiting a home. Women do not always shake hands. When introduced, say "How do you do?" instead of "Nice to meet you." The question is rhetorical. It is polite to shake hands at the beginning and end of meetings. However, if you’re a frequent visitor to a company, you will not be expected to shake hands with everyone in the office, only with those with whom you’re dealing directly. You’ll receive a limp, tenuous handshake from a surprising number of Britons: it is their nervousness at confronting someone new, combined with the British reluctance to reveal too much emotion too soon.

Titles/forms of address. Business titles are not used in conversation. Find out the honorary titles of anyone you will be in contact with, and use them no matter how familiar you are with the person. Doctors, clergy, and so forth are addressed by title plus last name; however, surgeons are addressed as "Mr.," "Mrs.," or "Miss." Rather than "sir," you should use the title of the person you are addressing (i.e., "Yes, Minister," and not "Yes, sir"). The use of first names is becoming more common. However, you should follow the initiative of your host.

Gestures. It is considered impolite to talk with your hands in your pockets. The British often do not look at the other person while they talk. Don't point with your fingers, but instead indicate something with your head. Sitting with your ankle resting on your knee may be seen as impolite. If you give the "victory" sign (a V with two fingers), do so with the palm facing outward. If the reversed (palm inwards) can be vulgar and offensive. Tapping your nose means confidentiality, or a secret. It is inappropriate to touch others in public; even backslapping or putting an arm around the shoulders of another can make the English uncomfortable. In addition, the English maintain a wide physical space between conversation partners. Avoid excessive hand gestures when speaking.

Gifts. Gifts are not part of doing business in England. Rather than giving gifts, it is preferable to invite your hosts out for a meal or a show. When you are invited to an English home, you may bring flowers (not white lilies, which signify death), liquor or champagne, and chocolates. Send a brief, handwritten thank-you note promptly afterward, preferably by mail or e-mail—not by messenger. Great gifts: wine, chocolate, a souvenir from your own country. Avoid giving: most presents are acceptable.

Dress. Conservative dress is very important. Men in executive positions still generally wear laced shoes, not loafers. Men's shirts should not have pockets; if they do, the pockets should be empty. Men should not wear striped ties; the British "regimentals" are striped, and yours may look like an imitation. Men's clothes should be of excellent quality, but they do not necessarily have to look new. Women should also dress conservatively.

Five Ways to Succeed	Five Ways to Fail
Deliver on time, without drama	Boast about your achievements
Arrive at meetings punctually	Talk for an hour in a presentation
If you’re having difficulties, ask advice immediately rather than risk missing a deadline	Phone people in the evening about work
Check at the end of a meeting exactly what the Brits expect of you	Let a colleague down once he or she believes they can depend on you
Join them for a beer after work, or in the gym (many Brits now avoid alcohol)	Be patronizing to women

 

 

LECTURE 3